It's my favorite time..Fall Y'all!!

Fall is my favorite time of year... The spices in my favorite coffee, the air getting cool enough for my favorite sweaters, baking the kids favorite foods without breaking a sweat and of course Halloween excitement filling the air ....

Pumpkin picking starts off the season and we headed out to a local church to pick ours 

We always have lots of fun seeing all the wonderful differences in pumpkins, tall and short, wide and bumpy. 

It's a great time for smiles and laughter with the entire family. 

We like to get a little creative before we carve and have a colorful session with our bright orange friends!! The kids like to give them colors that nature could not and painting is always a great time in this house!! 

Now that our Ode to Harvest has begun

... The Hauntingly delicious recipes begin flowing with our favorite after school snack: Smoothies! 

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We decided on Boo Berry today.

Here is our simply Haunting Recipe:

Boo Berry Smoothie

1-2 cups ice 

1 whole banana 

2-3 cups milk

1 10oz bag frozen blueberries

1-2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute 

Blend and enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed our little fall starter blog. How do you like to start off your Harvest season? Leave us a comment below! We would love to hear from y'all!

Love, 

The Castellanos Family

...I am...

...I am... 

MOM

I am everything to everyone

I am resourceful 

I am strong 

I am intuitive 

I am steady

I am complete 

I am my own keeper

I am fiercely loving 

I am enigmatic

I am passionate 

I am patient not perfect 

I am a Wife and Mother 

... But first I am a Wonder Woman

         ... I am ...tired

By Felicia Castellanos

DIY Lipstick!

Our girls decided to try a YouTube video recipe recorded by: Ms Toi  

You can also check out the video here: 

Best Lipstick Tutorial Using Crayons - Do It Yourself - Ms Toi

ByMs Toi

1,842,781 views

So the girls decided we should try it. 

Recipe calls for: 

1/2 crayon (crayons works great and comes in wide variety of colors) 

1/2 teaspoon of 100%

 Shae Butter 

(We couldn't find 100% shae butter locally so we bought the type in the image below) 

Lastly, 1/2 teaspoon of Castor Oil (which we also found at grocery store)

The type of shae butter we bought also had oatmeal as an ingredient which worked for the most part but contained other ingredients and preservatives. The consistency was not quite right. 

We then tried a substitute to the shae butter by the way of 100% Cocoa Butter which we bought at our regular local grocery store and that formulation worked perfectly. 

Success!! Homemade lipstick using crayons !! Nontoxic, Fun & easy!! Try it at home with your kids or just for yourself, let us know in the comments if you liked this craft ;) Thanks for reading!

~The Castellanos Family 

Kids Club Back to school is finally here !!!

 My after school kids club program is getting ready with an ice cream social!!

Our Community Manager and I are putting together grab bags for the first 25 residents kids to arrive and they are adorable!!! 

Can't wait to see the kids faces when they get to put together their sundaes and get back to school goodies. I love my job. 

Oh my my, how the days fly by...

Wanting peace and quiet is probably the most selfish thing I pine after as a mother.
 There is no greater joy than hearing your children talking and giggling and having a good time.. but somedays... i wish for silence. Monday was a strange day, and I cant really wrap my head around happenings at work, and how very sad life's strange twists can be... so with that being said I woke up today.. and it eerily felt like a Monday... all over again. Work is ok, I'm a little behind, feel a little like I'm walking through perpetual sand,  as is usual during the summer,... Field trip this morning handled but I'm not ready for my week, month, year at work. I'm really not.
At home I have straddled the back to school bull and made it back to the pen. I am up to date, shopping all done, and backpacks even packed. I unplugged my kids today, and we made a tent. The twins are currently reading, Son #1 is building with Legos (Daddy brought him the Lego Batman RedBox rental last night) and Daughter #1 is playing Sims, again, but chores all done. I washed the dishes, and  made the kids breakfast and lunch, cleaned the living room, folded laundry, made coffee and yet I feel like I have forgotten something very important... I renewed the kids medical insurance, .... gave my husband a kiss before he left for work.. showered and shaved... but still feel like something has been overlooked, it's totally bizarre.
It must be that I have yet to plan in detail for my week month year,.... I used to be obsessive about details, and I'm not sure that I am no longer obsessing. I think that I am indeed obsessive, but in a positive way I hope. I fear that because I am procrastinating writing it all down I am in fact in denial of how much I have to do, and how little time there is to do anything. My days seem to fly by, and I flit from child to child, project to project, chore to chore, work to work and I am exhausted and exhilarated. I love my family, my work, my hobbies and my Friends but I feel like a Human Octopus. I need to organize my head. I must cement.
The kids are now bored to tears again, and a lil tired. Sounds like nap time to me. So, I am going to put them down for a quick rest, then feed my soul with some music, and sit down with my agenda, and a piece of drawing paper. I always think more clearly when I draw and brainstorm with my favorite tunes lifting my soul.

Camp Invention Fun for Son #1!

It's finally Friday !!!

Son finished camp invention a summer program at his elementary school and it has been a blast for him all week!!
Waking up early that first day after a long summer of sleeping in was hard for him because he wasn't sure what to expect.
I was a little apprehensive too and half expected a call to pick him up before the day was through especially being off his ADHD meds all summer long.
I'm so proud of how hard he has been working on behavior, and that is a real feat for an all day, 5 day program for these little guys.
Much to my surprise no meltdowns no calls just a great day and wonderful accounts of inventing and creating and new friends.

 Second day he woke up with a smile and hopped out of bed. The third day he got down out of bed before I even entered the room,...WOW!! By the fourth day he woke up ready for the day before my alarm even went off. I couldn't ask for more of him! I love seeing him eager to learn. Inspiring!

How I wish everyday could be so engaging and exciting during the school year.

Alas, it has come to an end, the fifth and final day, and today there was a showcase of their imaginative week long hard work inventing!! 

 

 

 

The Biggest Tower Ever!

Hurray for Camp Invention!!

I <3 Thee!

http://campinvention.org/ 

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